Vector Marketing and Cutco a scam?

Almost Scammed? · #1 07-06-2006, 02:26 AM

I thought this would be a good opportunity to make money, but I only found out it was a scam after I was told by an ex "employee" after they hired me today and I have not bought the sample. Is it too late for me to back out?

I think I'll just not go to the training seminar.

Style · #2 07-11-2006, 04:28 AM

It's not too late to back out now since you haven't bought the sample kit.

I was "hired by them back in the summer of 2002.

It looked like a good opportunity since they said they pay a base of 15.75 per appointment.

It's not neccessarily a scam, but it's close.

You have to spend your own money on gas to get you to your appointments. There will also be mandatory meetings that you will be required to attend. You will also have to set up your own appointments and generate your own leads.

There will be some paperwork that you'll have to work on after each day, and you will also have to do nightly checkins. The paperwork you won't be paid for and it's a lengthy part of the job.

If your appointments don't meet their qualifications, you won't be paid, and you have just worked for free.

They also hired everyone in my group that interviewed. I went into the office one time and the same girl who said I was hired, asked me if I was there for the interview. They didn't even have any idea that I was an employee.

The management also put a lot of pressure on you to sell, and that adds to the stress of the job.

That said, you can still possibly make money if you make huge sales on every appointment. So if you think you can, it may be a good job for you.

Unlucky36 · #3 07-11-2006, 04:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Style

It's not too late to back out now since you haven't bought the sample kit.

I was "hired by them back in the summer of 2002.

It looked like a good opportunity since they said they pay a base of 15.75 per appointment.

It's not neccessarily a scam, but it's close.

You have to spend your own money on gas to get you to your appointments. There will also be mandatory meetings that you will be required to attend. You will also have to set up your own appointments and generate your own leads.

There will be some paperwork that you'll have to work on after each day, and you will also have to do nightly checkins. The paperwork you won't be paid for and it's a lengthy part of the job.

If your appointments don't meet their qualifications, you won't be paid, and you have just worked for free.

They also hired everyone in my group that interviewed. I went into the office one time and the same girl who said I was hired, asked me if I was there for the interview. They didn't even have any idea that I was an employee.

The management also put a lot of pressure on you to sell, and that adds to the stress of the job.

That said, you can still possibly make money if you make huge sales on every appointment. So if you think you can, it may be a good job for you.

So they don't pay for gas expenses, you don't get paid hourly. What is this crap here: If your appointments don't meet their qualifications, you won't be paid, and you have just worked for free?? :mad: Bastards will find any God damn excuse not to pay! God what a load of crap! I wouldn't touch that job with a 10 foot pole. Screw Commission Jobs! I would say that's a HUGE SCAM!!

Gundamgrl · #4 08-25-2006, 11:44 PM

i worked for vector this summer. and i do agree that the managers do kind of trick you into working for vector but if you really think about what they said they are not really lying. the only straight out lie i heard from my manager was the fact that the steel in cutco knives were better than henckels. i researched that online and found that totally off. our knives are just more stain resistant. i was also pissed off that i had assumed our pay would be based on like the week like i sold a few thousand my first week and thought i'd be getting 20% on all of it. but instead i found out that it works like 0-1,000 10% 1000-3000 15% etc. so it doesn't matter how fast you do it. but if you look at their site it's on there in a pyramid like that. so i suppose it was just misleading words not really a straight out lie. another thing i was kinda mad about was that they made it sound like calls came into the office and they assign them just by their wordings. but you actually have to make the calls which they don't say until the 2nd day of training. however they never said exactly how it worked so i thought that was a bit misleading.

now some ppl are saying that their commissions weren't paid or were wrong. i actually keep up with my commissions in a running balance and i've found vector wrong 2wice. i called up the main office they fixed it within a week. also when i had questions like when my bonus was coming in (just started getting monthly bonus recently) b/c i thot they ripped me off they were really nice and told me they send it out about 2 weeks after the month ends.

last of all i want to say some good things about it. i've made a couple thousand this summer. worked for about 2 months. like many other ppl have said it's not for everyone. and your work experience really depends on your manager. it might've been b/c i sold well that my managers were very flexible, kinda whatever with me. after the first 1.5 months i stopped turning in qpr's and just turned in orders. surprisingly my avg order was about 200. but it might be b/c asian ppl like cleavers. i rarely sold sets but i sold alot of 4 pieces which i would recommend. buy 3 get 1 free. like i had small orders compared to an 800 set but i sold almost every appointment. also to people thinkign about working for them i gave alot away for free and i was #1 in one of the summer conferences. my avg free stuff was 3x more than the national/divisional avg. so just a tip there. you just have to be amicable with your customer and actually believe in some of your knives. like i never sold a bread slicer or forks because i just didn't think they were useful. your customers will really pick up on what you like. i personally liked the trimmer, paring, and the santoku which i sold almost every time. o yeah and cleavers but asians like i said like those.

as for unpaid training if they paid for it ppl would just go for training and then quit. that's what i would do i'd be like nearly free money yeah!!!! also its true the managers make more money off new recruits but that's b/c they have to train them, and also spend more time with them since newer ppl often have more questions and stuff. the higher a recruit achieves the lower the manager's pay becomes. (i learned this cuz i was in the skills for life thing) which i think is pretty fair. i called my managers alot when i first started. can i do this or how do i do that....

lastly my office was $15/hour and even though i often spent like 2 hours per appointment i never made base pay so it didn't affect me. but still $7 per hour (if you don't sell) is higher than min wage and actually i started an internship this month which was why i haven't been sellling as well but i found that i liked my flexible hours more. if i wanted to work i worked if i didn't i didn't. i think in the last 3-4 weeks i've done maybe 3 appointments and my bosses haven't said anything really. even when i was doing it full time sometimes i would only do 2 appointments a week (not during the push period) and they didn't have problems.

there isn't lengthy paperwork either in response to style. you fill out order forms and a qualified presentation sheet (the appointments you've done). that's about it. o yeah the qpr all you put is customer name, single/not, apt/house, what they bought/not buy, and how many recs and permissions you got. it's not lengthy. the only lengthy thing is the appointment itself and sometimes phone time. btw i had really **** permissions and recs got like none. so if you don't think you're good at asking for them then just work until you exhaust your parents friends and quit. your managers aren't going to say you can't quit. then you can also turn in your knives since so many ppl ***** about the 150. i think the knives are pretty good especially the warranty. and i'm keeping mine since i got it for like 70% off anyways. or you can sell your kit for like 300 used. and still make like $150.

so yeah that's my bit on cutco/vector. some parts i hated some parts i liked (just the flexible hours) but either way i made good money. like i reached 45% a few days ago so somewhere around 8000 or so.

Gundamgrl · #5 08-25-2006, 11:45 PM

sorry i said last alot. my brain kept running even after those paragraphs haha.

Reign718 · #6 12-03-2006, 06:25 AM

Check this out: This is an ad from *****slist:

Reply to: aquarless718@yahoo.com
Date: 2006-11-30, 11:03AM EST

Established firm has openings for outgoing, friendly college students and recent HS Grads to work with customers face to face around Christmas and in the New year

Program benefits include:

-$17.00 base/(not based on sales)

-Customer sales/service
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-Will Train
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-Fun student atmosphere
-Excellent resume builder
-$40,000+ in corporate scholarships awarded annually
-All ages 17+, conditions apply

We are looking for students that are articulate, professional, and possess excellent people skills. Only resumes cut and pasted in the body of an email will be considered, all attatchments will be deleted.

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I joined this board, for exposure of Vector-Marketing/ Cutco only, I believe the public has a right to know about scams, some people's observation may not be as astute as mine was.

I saw this posting on *****slist and I'm like Woo hoo Jack pot.

I submitted my resume, they called me. They leave a voicemail on my cell phone saying, " This is Vector Marketing. You submitted your resume, call us at 718-259-2869." I thought, okay a little unprofessional. I call and I say "Hi, someone called me who didn't identify themselves about setting up an interview." He seemed bewildered (Different person then who called me) so he asks someone, "Did you call (my name) about a job interveiw" noone seemed to answer he says, "I have to ask you a few questions to validate this phone call and it's purpose. Due to the high volume of business here, you will have to save your questions for the interview process" I'm like WTF, but it was more of an orange flag then a red one. He asks me the questions, which were stuff like, where'd you hear about us? are you a student? blah blah blah, Mind you, he prefaced the questions with a statement saying. And When he gave me a job description he told me "No cold Calling, and no canvassing, All of our clients are existing customers. He then tells me to come in TODAY Saturday December 2, 2006 at 6PM to 8510 Bay 16th St. Brooklyn, NY 11412 He said it's on the lower level of a dentists office. I asked," whom do I ask for when I come in and he tells me after about a 5 second hesitation "uhm, ask for Adrian Walsch."

I looked them up on BBB. VECTOR MARKETING is listed in BBB and they do have a legitimate Site, However, The weird part is, VECTOR MARKETING is located in so many different states / Countries...It looks fishy.

The orange flag is Crimson at this point.

I tried calling this morning to reschedule, From 9-11:45am NO ANSWER, finally someone (different from the last two) picks up the phone, and says "VECTOR MARKETING" I say "Hello, I'm calling because I have a few questions, Who am I speaking to?" She evades answering who she is and says, what is your number in case we get cut off. I tell her, she then says "okay what are your questions?. " I asked, "Is it possible to reschedule for Monday, because I have to go out of town?" She says,"No we have everything prepared for you here today, we cannot do it anyother day." I'm thinking WTF?! She asks me if I can change my travel arrangements I said, uh I guess. I'll be there at 6pm.

I call again DIFFERENT person picks up, I said look would it pose a problem if I cam casual because realistically, it's 6pm on a weekend, I have things to do directly after. I am advised against it and he hangs up.

I get a phone call from "DAVID C. GRECO" I dont know who it is, so I dont answer it, I check my Voicemail moments later and the message is as follows:

"This is Vector Marketing, We are calling to confirm your appointment for an interview today with Ms. Quendilla call us back immediately."

I'm like you know what, **** this. There's something really wrong with this picture...."What happened to Adrian Walsch yesterday?"

I call back, guess what? It's a DIFFERENT NEW PERSON ANSWERING THE PHONE!!!!!!!

I tell them, Sorry i cannot make it tonight. The woman says "Well would you like to reschedule for Monday?" I said, "No thank you, I was declined that option earlier by someone else, I'm just not feeling your business ethics at this point."

I then consult with a really good friend of mine who goes to Binghamton University. I tell him all the shady ****, he said to me "Nooooooooooooooo, dont do it, I got caught by them. They make you purchase knives, and if you dont sell them, you dont get money."

So I did a google search "Vector Cutco Scams"

I found so many sites about Vector / Cutco.......All saying its a scam

I found this one to be the most interesting, it describes the exact process of what they do from a guy who has first hand experience.

And it also goes into deal how VECTOR REPS come on MESSAGE BOARDS all with IDENTICAL IP / SIMILAR IP addresses ALL under the same ISP.

http://www.dracolich.com/?p=15

So those of you VECTOR reps, responding to this, find another board, because now everyone is informed that you are all responding from the same location.

AWWWWWW Schucks, the ***** of the internet must be so damaging.

Vector is a Scam and I'll list all the reasons why:

1. Generally when a business calls you, They identify themselves, as well as the company.

2. They aren't "hesitant" to give you a NAME of someone within a company.

3. You are entitled to ask questions before you set up an interview, incase you feel it's a waste of time, you don't want to promise something you aren't going to uphold.

4. NO COMPANY, ABSOLUTELY NONE, EVEN DEPARTMENT STORES, HOLD INTERVIEWS AT 6PM ON A SATURDAY. They might during the week if you are currently employed, and you seem like that much of an asset, but NEVER BY NO MEANS WHATSOEVER on a Saturday at 6PM.

5. Lack of Communication, and different people constantly answering the phone. I confirmed my appointment with a rep there, yet I get a confirmation phone call?

6. ALL COMPANIES, USE ONE PERSON TO INTERVIEW. If you are called back for a second interview, it's with someone higher up then the initial person you interviewed with.
Why was I so privilaged to have 2 different interviewers within one day elapsing?

7. You need to verify if this phone call is legitimate? I've never heard an employer say that. Under SURVAILENCE ARE WE?

8. Buiness phones generally don't list a person's name, my caller ID would have said VECTOR MARKETING if you were Legit.

9. No one straight out of high school gets paid 17 p/h. Nowadays you need a ****ing bachelors degree to answer phones.

10. When you post 17.00 base pay PLUS commission, whether someone sells **** or not, They still should be AWARDED their base pay. If their productivity sucks, they should still be getting paid, and let them go on the basis that they arent a good sales person, but by no means do you withhold their base earnings.

11. NO ONE MAKES YOU PAY FOR YOUR PRODUCT YOU ARE GOING TO BE SELLING. A REAL company will supply you with it, free of charge. Unpaid training is acceptible, however paying for your Demo Equipment isn't LEGAL.

Oh, Believe me, I'm really bored because I'm unemployed...This posting will be getting Spammed on any boards pertaining to Cutco.

Please everyone, I implore anyone who sees this, to go to http://www.bbb.org and report these people so they get shut down, there is also options that if you have been a victim, and have spent money with this company you can be reimbursed.

Have a Good Day everyone.

cheesyhero · #7 05-24-2007, 02:35 AM

Hmm I called, and you're right. It was some chick named Elizabeth... I dunno. Getting kinda worried about this. They do let us "borrow" knives though, with a full refund. I doubt they're getting much cash off us. The trophies they got for selling all this **** may be fake, but...

besides a fairly crappy looking office, it looked legit. I'm going in for a training seminar this week. Eh.

met1 · #8 06-01-2007, 06:43 AM

I posted the following message yesterday in another segment of this website and thought I should post it here too.

I worked from May 2002-Nov. 2006 in the Columbia Missouri office and the St. Louis West office. I was going into my freshman summer when I started, worked through college, and one year out of college.

I attended the University of Missouri during that time and took no less than 15 credit hours per semester. My last semester of school I took 21 credit hours of classes and because I controlled my own schedule, I continued to be on the Deans list and made a good income.

I earned a little over 10,000 the second half of 2002. I earned 15,000 in 2003. I earned 17,000 in 2004. I earned 25,000 in 2005. I worked full time after I graduated from Jan-November 2006 and made 35,000. I also took off 6 weeks during my work time in 2006. I was an assistant manager from fall 2002 through summer 2004. All in all I sold a little under $200,000 of Cutco.

I had clients that ran the financial gammet. I had dead broke people spend $1500 because they loved cooking and valued good tools for the kitchen. I also sat down with wealthy clients who didn't buy anything because they didn't cook. My average client was middle class america in a normal neighborhood with 2-3 kids that prepared food for their family a few nights a week.

I left the company November 2006 to become a financial services rep. One of the reasons they hired me is because of the skill set I aquired at Cutco. I knew how to build rapport, I had phone skills, I managed my own schedule for 4 years, I had sales skills, I knew how to close, etc.

I still have great relationships with past co-workers around the U.S. and I am still great friends with my managers.

Cutco is not a typical job, nor is it marketed as one. It is not a job that you show up to and get paid for being there. You create your own success like any other sales position or business owner does.

Not everyone succeeds at cutco, just like other jobs. I also had friends during college that worked for movie theaters, dining halls, retail, etc. When things didn't work out for them at their jobs, they said their jobs were scams and that they hated it there. In reality, there are very few positions that young people can get (due to young age and lack of experience elsewhere)

Bottom line: if you are looking for something different that you have to work at but will increase your skills, business experience, and make your time more valuable, work with Cutco. If you want an easy job that you show up to and get paid minimally, don't work with Cutco.

Personally, I will make sure that when I have kids, they will work for Cutco through college.

smiledkmmmm · #9 06-01-2007, 10:17 PM

This is NOT a scam.

Why

1. The interviews are at 6pm because they hold massive interviews with like 10-20 ppl at a time. Also, after the interview you have to stay to get a description of the company and learn a bit about the product you will be selling.

2. Yes, there are 3 days of training, but they are very helpful even if you aren't paid for them.

3. The knives, your gas purchases, and the other little things you need to buy to do your interviews are tax refundable, you get it all back when you do your taxes.

4. You get paid 16.50 per person you see, no matter what. If you sell something you get 10% until you sell 1,000 dollars worth, then you get 15%, ect, it keeps going up.

5. There is only one interviewer, and of course different people will answer the phones, not everyone works everyday and there are many people in the office.

6. There are different place/countries for vector because they are such a big company and they make a ton of money by selling their products.

Think about it, if this was a scam the government would be all over it.

Besides, the knives are awesome and guarenteed forever, what coul be bad about this?

GA7171 · #10 06-06-2007, 06:43 AM

Let me clear a few things up. First of all Vector Marketing and Cutco is not a scam but rather a company that appears to be built on a foundation of misleading and deceptive practices. The product itself, Cutco, is a great product and top of the line for kitchen cutlery so that can't be argued with. However that is not the problem. The real issue with this company is the way they train and treat employees. From day one it is a little suspicious to show up at an interview where you have no idea what you will be doing beyond working for some sort of marketing company. In addition, in the training meetings it is apparent that mostly anyone gets hired to work for the company if they meet basic qualifications so the whole "special" feeling you get when you beat out other candidates as told at the interview quickly diminishes. When being taught how the job works and is comprised we recieve no legal documents but are required to take notes on what the manager is saying. This allows for a large area of confusion. The two words that best describe the way pay and appointment set-ups take place are "purposely misleading". Because of this, technically the managers did not lie but rather made things purposely confusing. For example when taught on how the pay system works we copied down a formula which consisted of the following: pay= base + incentive. Since we were taught that we were to recieve a base pay of fifteen dollars regardless of a sale, any logical thinker would assume that you recieve fifteen dollars plus any commission you make. The incentive for the employee is to keep selling so your commission increases and gets added to the base rate of fifteen dollars. However I quickly learned that this was not all true after I got my first pay check. Apparently they "explained" to us that you either get the base pay or you get the commission if it is higher, NOT BOTH. Well that was something convenient to forget when explaining the formula for pay. That means that when you start out with the company making a 10% commission and you had two appointments, one being a no sale and one being a sale of 150 dollars, then you would make 15 dollars for each appointment (10% of 150 being 15). Wait what? Work hard and convince people to buy 150 dollars worth of kitchen cutlery or show up act like a slob and make the same amount of money? Where's the logic and incentive there? The paychecks themselves are very vague and do not say how the pay was formulated, again giving lots of room for error and confusion. Unless you keep detailed records of what you made you will not know if you have been shorted as I have been many a time. Also, you have to pay for your own gas and cell phone bill which can add up between the number of appointments you call to set up and the driving you do to both appointments and meetings at the office. The way they play these expenses off is "they are write-offs" or "tax deductible". Yes I said tax deductible not tax refundable as the previous person, most likely a manager, posted. These are two completely different terms and tax deductible means you still have to pay the expenses however you are taxed less at the end of the year. So during the course of your job you are paying much more for gas and your cell phone and only get back a marginal amount of money once a year if you remember to write them off. For those of us that budget monthly and weekly as we are taught to describe when selling investment plans to customers, this is a problem. So the fact that you make more money weekly then your "friends" is in reality not that big of a difference given you pay for your own gas and or cell phone for "business".

The bottom line is this, working this job can make you a good bit of money and I made more in one week in my paycheck then I did at any other previous job I had. However I did not factor in gas money and cell phone charges which will be subtracted from my bank account not theirs. In addition, the two things I will not comprise are my morals and values. I do not want to work hard for a company that I cannot trust to pay me properly and one that uses deceptive practices while training employees, almost like a toned down brainwashing session. The fact of the matter is there is no legal issue because they technically did not lie or cross the line, but they got as close as possible. The training seminar felt like we were the customers and the managers were constantly holding our hand and filling our heads with how much money we could make and how we could be our own boss, my favorite being "I'll show you how to make 10k in income in a few weeks or months" . No employee wants to be treated as "customer" that the manager is selling the company to. I would rather have been told up front the truth about how the job works and is comprised like a real person. No one likes to be played for a fool and those who do like to pretend they didn't and are probably still working for Vector.

ace52387 · #11 06-16-2007, 07:46 AM

So i just went to this interview...where they literally did not look at a SINGLE person's resume. anyway, i understand that you have to put some down payment for the demo set, but supposedly, you can just give it back for your money again. Do they somehow scam you here?

I've also read that there are paid conferences you have to go to? is this true?

Is it true that the ONLY appointments you get are your own? There's ABSOLUTELY no help office side in this department? supposedly, they don't do cold calling, but if per chance you exhaust your sources, and you get no recommendations, what are you supposed to do? you'd think the company would provide you with some sort of customer if it is so keen on maintaining its business practices.

Edit: as for transportation though, most employers won't pay for your gas...granted normally, you'd only have to make 2 trips back and forth.

lisan23 · #12 06-19-2007, 03:02 AM

I know a couple people up here who did it just for some quick cash. They put the money in for the knives, did appts with all their friends and family, got paid for them, then quit and returned the knives. One girl I know made $600 in a week, which is REALLY good for our area.

It's not a scam, but it's not really a "real" job either.

iamrandom · #13 06-21-2007, 09:28 PM

Well, I got the letter. 18.50 an hour. Sounds intriguing, yet vaguely suspicious. I set up an interview appointment.

I do my research, and find out that this thing is on the verge of being a scam. Regardless of whether I can make a lot of money or not, I'm not interested in hawking knives. I had a hard enough time pushing people to buy stuff at Best Buy.

But now, I'm interested. Not for the job, but for the process. I'm going in today for my "interview", not as a potential salesperson, but as an investigative journalist. My goal is to gather as much data as I can to shed some light on the cold, hard truth of the company.

I will not be joining their ranks. But I will be investigating, and I will mix things up if need be.

Any advice?

jigglepete · #14 06-25-2007, 06:05 PM

Well, my knowledge of Cutco/Vector is...the sales person that gave me the "interview" had to take public trans to my apartment, she seemed miserable, and really stressed out (actually she almost burst into tears), plus she lied initially to my co-worker, as to what the purpose of the "interview" was. I don't know if the rep was trained to lie, just to get a foot in the door, or if that was just personal initiative. I ended up buying a set (love them) But really, the strongest thought I had throughout the entire experience was, This young co-ed type just came into my apartment, alone, and handed me a very large, very sharp knife :eek:. Now mind you I am not a threat, but geez, talk about an opportunity for a serial killer, they wouldn't even have to leave the house... :rolleyes:

texadave · #15 07-10-2007, 11:46 AM

i work for vector. it's definitely NOT a scam. all these people who have talked to their lameass friends don't realize that their friends just aren't good sales people. not everybody is cut out for the job.

however, there is a kid in my office who made $14,000 last summer on top of a $5000-$6000 scholarship the company gave him. Also, I personally was given a raise on my FIRST NIGHT working for the company. I'm now about to hit my third after just a few weeks. I made $800 in my first 10 days even though I'm taking summer courses and went out of town. A friend of mine who just got hired about 1.5 weeks ago just finished his 10-day fast start today and has made $3500 so far and has also won a trip to Cancun with the company. my division manager's son and daughter both work for vector on their own free will. both make PLENTY of money. his son is only 18. i actually went to see 311 play in dallas with my managers from the office and got to meet both of them personally.

By the way, dip****s, you can return your sample kit and get 100% of your money back for it.

Also, idk if this applies in other states, but anything you use for your job (i.e. gas, fast food, cell phone bill, etc.) is tax deductible.

There are no mandatory meetings (except if you want to succeed. Any decent sales person will go and get excellent sales advice. My manager has given me some really awesome advice, it's helped me make some great sales and also

don't let people tell you it's a scam. they just feel scammed because they didn't work hard at it and failed. they'll tell you that you should get a real job, but why? they suck! this job is a lot of fun, but it does require hard work. to the rest of you that are SO convinced this is a scam because of "what your friend told you," tell your friends to get work ethics or people skills or something. don't bash a job when you actually don't know anything about it. hearsay means nothing, experience is everything.

borisf96 · #16 07-10-2007, 11:57 AM

One time poster boasting about how well he is doing. How original.

StillKicking · #17 07-10-2007, 10:31 PM

Here's some perspective from a customer. Had a young relative contact us (gee, we never hear from him otherwise) about setting up an "appointment" with us. I heard the word Cutco and knew right away what was happening but it's a relative so what can you say. He just wants to "practice" on us but of course, as relatives, we will feel obligated to buy something. We could use some new knives but we don't need them desperately so I tell my wife a $$$ limit we would purchase (trust me, it wasn't much). I knew we would be pushed to give references so I tell her to NOT, under any circumstances, give any references (and end up losing friends).

He shows up and gives us the scripted spiel (as I think "I'll never get this hour back in my life") and goes through the expensive set ("no"), the less expensive set ("no"), etc. I can see part of his script and what he says next depending on the answer. I like how they ask "which of these sets would you choose?" which is a cute ploy to get you in a purchasing state of mind. We finally purchase a couple individual knives and he comes to the point of asking us to name some references...we hold fast and give him none even after he kind of begs us.

Yeah, I didn't have to buy anything but we did and Cutco knows this. That's why they can hire anybody. There's no cost to them whatsoever, in fact, they get you to pay THEM before you start. And they know the newbie will start with his sympathetic relatives and could make a couple sales so no matter how long they stay they might squeeze a couple thousand bucks out of a kid and pay him a small percentage then he's done.

I really disdain direct marketing. The knifes might be nice but they ARE overpriced and not near what I'd purchase. We are not master chefs and have been using old, cheap knives for 20 years and are none the poorer because of it. You are making your profits (if true) by annoying people who have been "given up" by their "friends" as references. People as a whole are polite and can't say no and Vector/Cutco uses that to their advantage. I jokingly went around my office and asked my co-workers if they wanted a visit from our relative...they all said an emphatic NO!

texadave · #18 07-11-2007, 05:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by borisf96

One time poster boasting about how well he is doing. How original.

**** you, stupidass. my friend sent me this link last night, and as an established vector rep. who LOVES HIS JOB i thought i'd let some others know that you dumb *******s have no ****ING CLUE what you're talking about.

one more thing - sure, that was my first post, but i actually have experience in the company. all of the ideas above me are just talking about the **** they saw from other people.

god, the internet is full of total ****ing morons. just because your ****ing friend or family member is too ****ing incompetent to handle the job doesn't mean it's not a good opportunity. so pull your heads right out of your dumbasses.

StillKicking · #19 07-11-2007, 09:35 PM

Sorry Vector/Cutco apologists, I again reiterate from a customer point of view: MOST people know what they want/need in life. Having acquaintances come in to their home trying to sell stuff they don't really need is an annoyance. Yes, we can refuse but most of us are afraid of alienating that person because they are so "enthusiastic" about what they are selling and we hate to burst their bubble. If more of us were bold enough (I admit I wasn't) and told them to get a real job at the risk of harming the relationship, maybe this sort of thing wouldn't proliferate.

Truth is, in the long run, the relationship IS probably harmed because, outside of the sales pitch, we now avoid you and have lost respect for you. We know that you go to glowing presentations and are fed all this garbage about the product. If you are not brainwashed, you at least have to keep up the facade that your product is the greatest thing on earth. It's ingenuine and most of us see right through it as you read your tidy little script.

texadave · #20 07-13-2007, 10:02 AM

i haven't harmed a single relationship through vector. in fact, the people that have bought from me have told me personally how much they enjoy their cutlery and how great it is.

also, we don't lie about the product. it really is that great. if it wasn't, cutco wouldn't still be in existance after almost 60 years. go ask cutco owners like my parents who use it every day and have since my dad did the exact same thing as i'm doing now when he graduated from high school 30 years ago.

again, "StillKicking" has never been there and actually done it. he's just talking **** like most of the rest of you.

anybody else?

StillKicking · #21 07-13-2007, 05:27 PM

Texadave, you ever heard of "patronizing"? Once people have spent the money, of course they want to justify the cost and give you platitudes (if you aren't decieving yourself about the flattery or outright lying to us). It's too bad they feed your delusions. The product MAY be decent but there's also a lot of fluff going on in the presentation to sell the product. You may not call it lies but deceitful may be in order (the price of a set of Henckel's comes to mind).

I'm not "talking" anything. I'm giving my personal experience and anecdotes of co-workers/friends who want nothing to do with having a Cutco representative in their house. None of their lives are less fulfilling because they haven't had the "wonderful opportunity" of being sold your product. In fact, they are $600-1,000 richer because of it.

If this were so great, we'd have direct marketers coming into our home to sell us expensive bath towels, fancy bedsheets, "long lasting" toothbrushes, silverware...you name it. Instead, most of us make informed choices by comparing and investigating (now more than ever with the internet) versus having a robotic shill barge into our house with a canned script.

texadave · #22 07-16-2007, 01:39 AM

well, that's stupid. nobody forces you to buy anything. in fact, we inform people of the base pay as soon as we call them. if people spend money on Cutco, it's because they want to.

blahblah · #23 07-17-2007, 09:35 AM

Hi! I recently started working at Vector and in only two nights I made over $10,000,000. I have absolutely no sales experience, no skills or any special training. Although I know nothing about the product I sell because I am neither a chef nor a knife producer, I believed everything my manager told me. And because my manager told me what he/she wanted me to hear, knowing that I will commit myself to this company after hearing it, I will argue against anybody who tells me otherwise or post a reasonable opinion on this website stating otherwise. While you guys are working at your regular jobs and making a decent wage I will immediately get married and raise a family so that I will have more family members to sell to. While you guys are working hard in your jobs, I, like most of my employees who posted on this site, will only do a half-ass job. In ten years I will have over $10,000,000,000 after taxes. It’s just a small amount but feel free to add more zeros at any time.

One thing I don’t understand is that why all these poor people in the world or better yet in America work for Vector? Let me tell you why, to put it plain and simple, because they suck. If they were as good as I am, raising a family of 30 children (future customers) while doing a half-ass job, it would solve the poverty problem. It’s as easy as that.

If you don’t believe me or the product that I sell, let me come to your house for a demonstration. I will cut all the pennies you have in your house just to show you that our knives take away your hard earned money.

sincerely,

THE MAN

nhunter75 · #24 07-19-2007, 01:18 PM

this is NOT A SCAM. You dont have to buy the sample kit. You borrow it and give a security deposit you get back when you quit. THousand of reps across the country make more money in a week than most students do in a month. THe misunderstanding is that you have to show cutco to people YOU KNOW at first, and then branch off threw referrals. This is a good skill to have. Its not for everybody. THe same people that do well in school will do well at this job. I know, cause i teach economics at UCSB, and i rep and manage at vector. THe ones that fail at both school and vector are the ones that dont study the notes (training manuel), who dont have enough self control to go to class even though they dont have to. People who fail at both are the same ones that blame everyone but themselves for their grades or failure to sell on the job. There are jobs for people who just need to clock in and clock out and be told what to do all the time. THey dont pay very well, often near minimum wage. Vector pays a lot more but expects alot more.....that you can decide when you feel like working and actually work when your supposed to. Nobody fires you if you dont work ....like in other jobs, but you dont make any money either. I personally think this is one of the best jobs in terms of money, flexibility, and experience that any college student could have. Better than being the fax boy at an investment bank internship, the coffee man at starbucks, the car parker at ace parking. Vector is an opportunity to opperate your own business, gain communication and time managment skills, work even though your not on the clock. But in life, we do need the clock in clock out people. THese are the same people serving coffee to the kid driving a BMW he bought with the money and skills on how to earn money in any business environmnet through vector. SCAM THAT.

nhunter75 · #25 07-19-2007, 01:40 PM

For the gentlemen who bought cutco just not to burst the reps bubble. You purchased something you didnt want...which is certainly counterintuitive. The appointment would have ended sooner had you purchased nothing. Most customers are not like you. Most people that buy them love them, and when our reps follow up with them, they want to buy more. A 600 purchase over the course of a lifetime is nothing...and the product can be replaced over and over again from its guarantee. THis is not a low prices empathy item like girl scout cookies. People dont usually spend 500 on something just to please the seller. So in the end, the person can just say no if they dont want it. We have grown from 1 million in sales to 200 million per year in 24 years. WE have 14 million customers. I wonder just how many are like you...spending hundreds of dollars on a product they didnt really want and didnt like after they owned it for their whole life. I expect this is a small proportion.

frizzle fruzzle · #26 07-25-2007, 06:36 AM

hey i'm new to this site and i'm just logging on for my first time. i'd just like to say that i joined vector about two weeks ago, i'm a REAL PERSON! and i'm not a stupid freaking robot. i'd also like to say that i work for one in new york, i am kindof scketched out about it because of the following:
1] the building is really sketchy theres like a car insurance place next to our "office" and when i started there was crappy rap music playing [just like eveyrone else has said]
2] i haven't gotten my first paycheck yet and i've been working there for like a week and a half if not more, probably like 2 weeks, i called the company and she said if i didn't get it by august 3rd to call back and theyd send it again. ...okay, i better F*CKING get it thats all i have to say about that!
3] the people are WAY overly friendly
4] the people spend like 75 hours a week in there!

but i also do kindof like the job because:
1] i didn't sell alot to my family or friends and they still like me for who i am.
2] over the past two weeks i havent BUSTED MY ASS, but i did kindof work hard and i got about 1,700 in sales, all of you who post "oh i got like 5k my first week it wasnt hard" your the company posting, and i know your lieing because thats rare unless your rich and pathetic.
3] i'm just an average girl, my first paycheck will be about $200, so its pretty good for like a new job i guess, and i did get my first promotion which wasn't that hard.

i know you guys say it's a big scam but i think it's becuase you guy's just havent either stayed with it or tryed hard enough.

my dinner is ready so i'm going to go eat; here is my email someone who has common sense and isn't a company contact me.

dridrixdorkette@yahoo.com

mel07 · #27 07-31-2007, 06:15 AM

All right, so i'm sorry for all of you who have had a bad experince, but so far my experience has been absolutlety wonderful. I'm just finishing my fast start and recieved my first raise today. The people i work with are absolutely amazing. My manager is also amazing. He may be only 20, but he is a great mentor. We have fun, we are always learning, and it's just over all a great time. It's the perfect place for me to work, especially as an entering freshman in college. Working here allows me to make the money i want to make in the time i want to do it. I don't have to worry about not finishing homework or missing out on a trip. Besides, if anybody has a problem with selling products to family and friends that they will use all the time and love from the beginning, then you're right, this job isn't for you. If you have a problem with buying the starter kit, then seriously, you did not think things out. You can get a full refund, keep it, or sell it. I am of course going to keep mine, i mean how many college students do you know that actually own cutlery that they are going to use for the rest of their lives? Oh, and i have never had anybody be shady with me or lie to me about anything. We have one secretary, and when she called me in for an appointment she gave me her name and the name of the person who referred me to them, and we have always been allowed to miss the mandatory meetings with a valid reason, or if you simply can't make it in. I have yet to have a single bad experience with them on any level, and the people who i've talked to that have owrked for them have always said that it was a great job.

mel07 · #28 07-31-2007, 06:18 AM

oh and for frizzle fruzzle, my friend who also works there made 5k in her first week, and it's because her family knows alot of people and she works hard. She's is totally not rich. It's not that rare for the people in my office to make those kind of sales.

Toxigyn · #29 10-16-2007, 12:32 AM

This company was what started my love affair / interest / obsession with scams, MLM, and well, all those marketing magic.

Yes, it is a scam.

Yes, I have gone in for an interview.

Yes, I am an average joe, I'm not writing this on behalf for anyone (however you shouldn't believe me, or anyone, ever.)

Here are a few red flags:

1) They claim to sell 2 products (or they advertise it to the poor, broke students they prey on): 1) Kitchen and Cooking Supplies 2) Sporting Goods.

Anyone guess why they would pick kitchen supplies and sporting goods out of every other product on the market? Sorry if some find this stereotypical and generalizing, but those are the two most likely interests of their demographic: young women, and young men. Problem is they haven't found a suiting product that works as well as the Cutco BS, so they are always conveniently out of any other positions than knives.

2) They advertise things like $18per hour base/appt. Nobody ever questions what this means, they just stop at 18 bucks per hour. Well, the base/apt means that unless you sell ****, they pay nothing.

3) When I went in for my interview, they said "How bout tomorrow" I told them that I wasn't available till after 5:30, so they said, "No problem, 6pm then". Anyone who interviews at 6pm, bad. Red flag.

When I went in, there was no showroom. No Inventory. Just one massive room (playing rap... ok, quick sidebar, why rap? Think. That is the most probable interest of their demographic, todays naive youth. Lyrics that talk about the need for "BLING" and "DOLLAZ" is a damn fine way to subliminally remind you that you need to get rich quick). The room was filled with dozens of people filling out forms. Thats it. Then we went in for a GROUP INTERVIEW. This company doesn't even have the time to do 1-on-1 interviews. The guy had the most pathetic monotone prerecorded speech I have ever had the displeasure of hearing. It was ominously obvious that he had said it 4324803 times since lunch. He couldn't explain any of my questions, like where do the leads come from, or where is your inventory?

4) Most infrigginportant... WHAT KIND OF COMPANY DO YOU PAY TO WORK FOR?!??! DON'T YOU REMEMBER THAT MOST COMPANIES PAY YOU TO WORK FOR THEM?!?! IF YOU WORK FOR REDBULL, THEY GIVE YOU TONS OF FREE PRODUCT TO GIVE AWAY, HOPING THAT YOU WILL GET PEOPLE INTERESTED IN IT, YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY ANYTHING. THEY CAN DO THIS BECAUSE THEY HAVE A PRODUCT THAT PEOPLE WANT!!

Be it a car, or a toothbrush, or a knife, salespeople don't have to pay for their product, they have to help sell them.

Ugh, enough ****** spent on a damn scam... but I was prompted to write this because I have been on the phone for hours with friends in NY who are just now roped into a similar scam, same biz model, but this time: Fire Extinguishers. If you have learned anything from my post, ask yourself this; Why Fire Extinguishers??

-

Because everyone wants to think they can get rich selling safety. Once again, a great product that, like a knife, needs no explanation or technical experience to sell, just a place to demonstrate it. Sheesh.

Those of you like Texguy that are defending this scam model to the death, I hope you sleep at night. Because we all know why you are calling others dumbasses, you need to make people feel stupid for asking the obvious questions. Scams like this exist because they are so complex that most stop questioning them because they get lost trying to understand them.

-Tox out. Email me for more info if your still confused.

AdamSmith · #30 10-31-2007, 08:18 PM

I love it how on scams.com, you guys expose a scam, and then completely out of the blue all of these employees- apologists- of the company start coming out of the woodwork, pretending like they randomly found this site- indepentantly of one another, always at the exact same time. And then they start out characterizing all the dissenters as people who only "heard from a friend" that the company is a scam- even though, if they'd have actually read this particular thread, they'd realize some of the dissenters are former employees (so are the ones on jobvent.com). nhunter75, loved the bit about "the kid driving a BMW he bought with the money and skills on how to earn money in any business environmnet through vector...". Oh my God, I totally thought Vector was a more sophisticated scam than that! Do you actually have the cliche pictures of a young couple in their speed boat, boarding their private jet, laying on the beach in cancun?! Come on, you can do better than that!! nhunter75's an economics teacher? Don't make me laugh! They let you teach economics, even though you clearly ****ed up and failed to study all the warnings about market saturation, employee saturation that MLM's always ignore? Those are BASIC economics principles. "I wonder just how many are like you...spending hundreds of dollars on a product they didnt really want and didnt like after they owned it for their whole life. I expect this is a small proportion." I expect not! I expect bastards like you trick naive people into exploiting their network of family and friends, and that a significant portion of your revenues come from impulse/pressure sales to family. Go ahead now man, lose your temper because you've been schooled by a veteran of your bull**** mindgames. They always lose their tempers, folks, and start calling names and insulting people for not being good salesmen. My, how angry they get, when people start asking FUNDAMENTAL questions. The Cutco Reps doth protest too much, methinks.

tompindar · #31 11-01-2007, 06:12 PM

we bought a cutco serrated knife (a big one) 15 years ago. The blade chipped a short time ago. we remembered they are guaranteed. we called them up. they sent us a new one. it's a very good knife.

DerekForeal · #32 11-03-2007, 12:17 PM

Hey guys. I worked for Vector in the summer of 1996. As I look back on it, I had no idea that I would be getting a crash course in direct sales. However, with direct sales being my first sales job ever, no matter how misleading the advertisment or interview looks to me now, it helped me land three jobs with Fortune 500 companies at the beginning of my corporate career.

I lay no claim to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, a fancy european car or a endless supply of hot babes. Over time, however, I enhanced my sales skills, my people skills and my ability to earn and that is with working three other jobs that same summer. I mean, I made my kit money back like the first week of selling so I did not see it as a problem. It is sales. Sales is definitely not for everybody. There would be more million and billionaires if it were.

If I am not mistaken, they are apart of the Direct Selling Association, are the only cutlery company I know that uses a direct sales model and I just don't see to many companies that are scams that have a lifetime achievment special on the History Channel. I mean, call me gullible but I just feel I would have seen some whistleblowers way before now since they have been in business for several decades.

And that's my wooden nickel.

gkremian · #33 11-16-2007, 01:44 AM

I'm a current employee, and I would like to add my part to this, since it seems to be an ongoing topic.

Cutco is a great product, the problem is with Vector. Vector can have some issues, and sometimes the company can mislead people with how they present themselves, their rewards, or the product. However, what I will say is this: all the people that are mislead are the same types of people who do not look very carefully into things. Yes, you can go to Cancun. You need to sell at least $15,000 worth of stuff to go there. Yes, you can buy a BMW. You'd just need to sell $100,000 worth so that you can get your 50% and make roughly $70,000 dollars and then have that taxed.

People think that it's instant gratification, and it isn't. Vector is DSA BBB.. the only cutlery company that is direct selling. Why don't they sell in stores? It raises the price, eliminates employees, and people are less likely to buy something that is more expensive right off the bat. If I went into Target, knowing nothing about knives, and I saw a set of Chefmate next to a set of Cutco (this is an example if you didn't read carefully), I'd go with the chefmate because it's cheaper. And then my knives would break, and I would send it back to the company but my guarantee would be void because I put those knives in the dishwasher.

Someone mentioned above a comparison about Henckel's knives. The comparison is accurate, and I'd like to point out why it may be misinterpreted. There are two types of Henckels.. there is Henckels, which is made in Germany (and is the accurate, expensive comparison), and Henckels International, which is made in Brazil and is much less expensive.

I haven't sold a large amount, but I also haven't done very many appointments. I have sold at least one thing every appointment, to strangers, who just decided to take the 45 minutes to look. Have I ever done a cold call? No. Will I ever need to? Not likely. The CEO of the company that owns Burger King, Chilis, other fast food restaurants and the like started at Vector. Vector teaches sales. It teaches phone skills. It teaches communication, and gives you confidence by starting you on family members.

No, they won't reimburst your gasoline, or your cell phone. We fill out the same tax forms as lawyers, real estate agents, and other independent contractors. So, all those things are tax deductible.

The managers can put pressure on you, even my manager can irritate me some times. However, there have not been any mandatory meetings. I didn't have to buy my set of knives.

Most of the problems that stem from people's experiences with Vector are not with the company personally, but instead with managers. A lot of managers appear to have been rather shifty people, cashing people's 150 deposits when they shouldn't have. I know my manager is legitimate, and a cool guy. He pushes me because he knows I can do well at the job. They hired me with no work experience, only some community service stuff and my grades. That's it.

Companies that hire college kids usually hire 15% grades and 85% experience. I'd rather have the experience than just the grades, and because of Vector when I leave college I know I'll be able to find a job.

I was never told 'If you work for us, you'll be able to buy a speedboat, a BMW, three mansions and a gulfstream' but I was told 'if you work hard, you'll make money. There is a girl actually that worked very hard and just paid in full on her Acura TL,' my manager never guaranteed me anything.

Is it a scam? No, unless your manager is a criminal. But all companies have criminals in them. Enron, Worldcom, Tyco, Adelphia. Those were or are major, massive companies. And the criminals within those companies were at the top executive levels.

I feel safe with Vector, because I know I have made enough already off of simply commission to pay for the gas I used, the cell phone bill I incurred, and heaven forbid the deposit gets cashed, I've made enough to cover that too.

Edit: Several universities in the US, including Purdue and North Carolina State, among others, have Vector Marketing as a marketing class. Apparently those institutions, some of them are extremely large schools, don't think vector is a scam, and believe that vector is a good tool for your own future. Take it up with them.

thewesternlife · #34 01-19-2008, 09:05 PM

I need some help about this Vector Marketing.

Ok i'm moving out of my house and going to college and i need some money so i applied at vector and i got a call and a interview of course. I didnt really know too much about the company and duties so i thought i should research it and now im seeing that it could be a scam.

I have an interview monday, i need money. Should i go and maybe ask some questions? and if so what questions?

gkremian · #35 01-21-2008, 05:37 AM

Vector isn't necessarily a scam. The company just isn't very truthful with it's employees at the beginning.

The people that claim vector as a scam aren't wrong, but I think they mislead people with what they say the way Vector can.

When you got the call to set-up the interview, you were probably told that you are going to sell 'stuff for the kitchen, the garden, and around the house, stuff that married couples would buy' but they didn't say you'd be selling knives. You are. You'll be trained how to sell Cutco: You won't be paid for this training, that takes 3 days and is about 4-5 hours a day.

You will have to set up your own appointments, starting with your family. You get paid $14.25 (In WA state, at least) per appointment, and a starting 10% commission even if you sell nothing.

You'll have to get referrals from those family members to be able to set up more appointments, because Vector doesn't want you to do cold calls. Push for referrals, but use the training manual. More referrals = more appointments. More appointments = more sales.

You'll eventually be taught to do Service Calls, where you go to customer's houses and you sharpen your knives for them. I was never told about this in training, and I feel mislead by it. It is one of Vector's practices that, even as a current employee, I'm uncomfortable with. What I'm uncomfortable with is that, to me, it's basically a cold call. You call up Cutco owners through the sales record (usually 3-4 years after they buy) and ask them if they need an appointment to resharpen their knives. It's a chance to sell more Cutco, even to people you've never met.

There are weekly team meetings. They aren't "mandatory" but they might as well be.

Here's the bottom line:
To do well at vector, you need to work hard. It's the same as any other job.

I've never had a No Sale, but I also haven't had that many appointments. I don't do it as a full time job, but I've sold about $4,000 worth and made about $600 bucks.
There is a kid in my office that does like 10 appointments a day, five days a week, and has sold at least $6,000. So far, just selling 6,000, he has made $1,000.

You make money by working. I've worked a little, and made a little. The kid in my office has worked a lot, and it's paying off for him. It's how it works.

I was NEVER promised anything. I was always given the idea I could have what I wanted, if I worked for it. But you have to WORK FOR IT.

Also, some random things about Vector:

All employees do not fill out the W-2 for their taxes. They fill out the independent-contractors form. It's the same that lawyers and real estate agents use, among others. So, you need to responsible and hold at least 30% of your wages in a savings yourself for taxes.

I don't think Vector withholds social security, so you have to pay all 16% yourself (8% from the company and 8% from your paycheck). You're up to about 46% of your wages saved, and only about 50% to spend.

You'll have to put a check for about $150 down. Supposedly, the office will never cash it as long as you work for them. If you quit, and don't give back the knives, then they cash it. If you quit and give back the knives, you get your check back.

Here would be two good questions to ask:
Why does Vector use the independant-contractors form instead of the W-2? and Do you withhold social security for your employees?

Otherwise, I think you should also ask your manager about Service Calls and why it is that employees don't do service calls immediately, or why you're not taught to sell kitchenware (skillets, pots, pans, etc) until you've sold $10,000. Those would be a good couple of questions as well.

My goal in this post wasn't either to convince you to work for vector, or convince you that it's a scam. I just want to inform you of what my experience has been like, and like I said in one of my previous posts, managers seem to be the sketchy ones. Not the company.

I think Vector has been a good experience for me, especially relating to direct sales. My father has been a manager of sales for MCI (before it was Worldcom), a VP, COO, and president of sales for a company that did phone related services and provided to companies like AT&T, has worked for Verisign, has been a CEO, and Global President of a Korean company, and he has a lot of respect for Vector's ability to teach sales. His wife, who is one of the top corporate saleswomen for a cell phone provider had a brother who sold Cutco for Vector, and has a lot of respect for the company as well.

It's your choice.

baddog123 · #36 02-29-2008, 03:31 PM

Cutco and its marketing arm, Vector Marketing, have been the subject of varied controversy. Vector Marketing's employment tactics have been targeted for criticism, specifically for deceptive recruitment practices. Vector was sued by the Arizona Attorney General in 1990, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in 1999, and was ordered by the state of Wisconsin not to deceive recruits in 1994. Each time their legal trouble r*****ed around allegedly fraudulent recruiting tactics, and each time Vector settled and promised not to mislead their recruits anymore.
In the early 2000s, Vector made what they called "transparency" changes to become more upfront about what they offered representatives. Vector asserts that many of the people who were in upper-level positions with Vector 10 to 15 years ago when most of the criticism occurred no longer work with the company. Groups of former Cutco employees or contractors argue that these changes have not altered Cutco's business practices.
The company tells recruits they can make significant profits, but depending on multiple factors, they may only make a few hundred a month. Like any sales and customer service position profits depend directly on sales reps.[8].
Employees can only begin to attempt sales after purchasing or borrowing a sample set of Cutco knives to show customers. Some Vector programs allow representatives to attain a sample set free of charge, while others offer the set at a 70% discounted price or security deposit of $135 pretax.

So when governments go after them I guess it is a SCAM!

getmoney · #37 03-02-2008, 03:01 AM

Ive seen about 50 percent of the people here. Say something negative about cutco. When they havent even done the training yet. Cutco explains every single thing u people have said. About the sales they even told us about u have to schedule and could take some time and u will get better. which it does get alot easier. U attend conferences rarley for 5 bucks wow. Okay u say henckles is better knives. Inless they lied i belive u only get defects. For u to get it fixed for free. Your guys offices must stink. because the 1 in st.louis i have. The training was great they explained everything. about having 25 and older no housewives. they might have done it at your training but u prolly fell asleep. The training is long but if u listen to everything u will know whats up. And gas shouldnt hurt inless u are running 50 miles for a ap. We had a guy move in that knew little english and had no friends. He mad 3k of income him self the first 10 days. U also get 3 percent of whatever some1 you offer and gets the job and sales. The more you sale the more of the percentage of the product u sale u will be able to get. You also will be alot more better with knowing you booklet. IF you dont want to put in the time. to even give u a chance to get up to 30 and 40 percent commission then y do it. When i saw that thats what i was aiming for now my first check. I would suggest a few things.

keep all your sales forms. So u know what you should have everycheck.

Sale to married couples only. they buy alot more and make sure there both there.

Ask them how the taxes will go with this job. 1 on 1 so u want miss anything.

crsnowkitten · #38 04-07-2008, 07:58 PM

First off I wanted to state that I've only been working with Vector Marketing for a month now, so I am no where near being a manager, but I find some of your logics quite amusing. Vector Marketing isn't a scam and they're not deceptive when they recruit.

1 In my office the receptionist work part time so there are a number of them and their schedules aren't strict. So of course you could easily get a different person when you call in. My office is a smaller office and has like six phone lines, but other offices are larger and may have more.

2 I don't see why anyone would expect to get their demo set for free. These knives individually can cost up to 100 dollars but you're getting a whole set for just 150? People aren't as stupid as you want them to be. If they gave out the knives without a deposit you WILL have people who will just steal them and sale them on their own. That's the way of the world. You even get the opportunity to win knives for free based on how much you sell your first 10 days and you get to keep those forever. Hmm....yea that's a scam for sure. Please.

3 I think it's funny that you would assume that only one person does the interviews. Large companies do not work that way. I was just applying with a Collections company and three guys where giving interviews in one building and I ended up going to another guy in another building for my interview. When you start hiring large numbers of ppl it's highly ridiculous to assume these people don't have a life outside of Vector. Divide and conquer. Any manager or assistant manager who's qualified can pitch in and help out with the process. You don't want to be there forever and neither do they.

4 EVERY OFFICE IS DIFFERENT so don't knock the whole company. Some offices are better than others hence they have better sales than the rest. So how they hire isn't a trait of the company but a trait of the individual who is hiring. As for them being selective, my interview was. My office is 8th in the nation and during my interview there were 20 people. I was nearly the only one hired. I didn't see anyone from my interview in training.

5 If you were mislead think again on just how much attention you were paying. My manager made if very clear that you get either base or incentive which ever is the highest so if you were like me and had 20 appts that were no sales you can still bring home 300. You're an INDEPENDENT sales rep. It's up to you how much you make. Yea there's gas and cell phone bills, but if you were smart you'd plan to see people in a similar area and you'd make your calls from the office anytime you want.

Other than that. Meetings aren't mandatory. If you WANT to be a manager or a leader in your office, if you WANT to excel and actually learn how to do the job and do it well, and if you WANT to develop a relationship with your team then go they're only an hour anyway.

So I'd say if you're interested go. My team members are young. My manager is 21 and he's running the office. We have fun and learn things that will carry over into any job. No one is pushy and when you make a sale everyone celebrates you're achievements.

enelo88 · #39 04-10-2008, 02:01 AM

Like other people have said, when I went to the interview I thought it was kind of sketchy. First of all it wasn't a proffesional looking setting. It was an open room with one other little room. It looked crappy, and there were stains on the carpet. The guy turned on a station playing rap music when everyone came in. He did a group interview, more like a sales pitch itself and did the same routine with the penny. The one on ones lasted like 2 minutes each. When he asked me how long I lived here, I said I just moved out here for school. So he asked if I had family around the area and hinted that he had a doubt in getting me in. But once I told him I had alot of family friends, and friends in the area he was like OK great. They are just trying to get you to sell it to everyone you know, which what they want, they get their sales. The whole thing is OFF. Anyone with the right mind should see right through this.

DarkDahlia · #40 04-14-2008, 01:42 PM

Hey all. Just wanted to give an arizona experience to warn others.

First off, I dont even remember applying to vector so they're mostly likely using fake ads like the creepy *****slist one. Anyway this woman with a thick indian accent calls asking if I applied for vector marketing.

THATS HOW SHE GREETS ME!

I say that I've applied for countless jobs and I need a description of the job position. She tells me I have to answer screening questions first

(which is what happened in another "customer service" call I had with a separate scam company. only after answer her questions she STILL "couldn't disclose that information"..)

Anyway I tell her before I answer the questions, I need to know what position Im screening for. she tells me she got my resume from hotjobs.com so I say "alright then, I probably quick apply for it".

she says yes I did..but she wouldn't know...

She then tells me that so many people are applying for this job so she wants to get me in right away for an interview. She suggests 5:30pm tonight and i tell her I'm going to the DMV. she then QUESTIONS MY PLANS by saying "well doesnt the DMV close at like 4pm???" and i tell her that for emissions testing the DMV and all branches stay open till 7:30 if she has to know.

She then pushes me to go to this interview and I say ok fine. she gives me directions to a medical plaza ive passed by before, never knowing a random marketing business is in there.

Thats when i remember about a similar experience. Vector marketing sounds familiar so I google and come up with Cutco. which is what they called themselves when calling me for interviews almost a year ago lol. And i was turned off by the thought of selling knives that I never called them back. THIS COMPANY DURING THAT TIME LEFT ME VOICEMAILS EVERY DAY, AND CALLED ATLEAST TWICE A DAY!

So I call back about 20 minutes later hoping to have someone else but just my luck its the same woman. so I tell her I'd like to cancel and she goes "oh why?" and I go "i just dont think the company is for me" and she goes "oh is it that you dont want to work with customers and great people one on one?" and i go "....no i've done that before, I just dont want to work for your company"

she then pauses, probably looking through a script and finally gives up and says "ok well good luck"

good luck with what? are they going to bomb my car now?

Vector/ Cutco whatever they want to be called this season, is still not the new black. mmkkay? SCAM

honestm · #41 04-16-2008, 05:13 PM

Anyone who wants to talk bad about Vector Marketing and/or Cutco can obviously say whatever they want because of freedom of speech, but they're wrong. It's not a spam and you can make a ton of money. This job allows a person to work as much or as little as they want. The employee has a base pay that they will always make that or more. If a person doesn't make good money with this company than it's because they aren't putting much into it, they're being horribly lazy, or they don't believe in the product and that shows through in the demonstrations. That is the representatives fault, not Vector or Cutco. And about the buying or the borrowing fee for the demo kit, think about it for a moment. First off they give you a $517 kit for $143, that's 70% off and you can always return it and get all of your money back. Secondly if you were to work, minimum wage, at say Gap or Express you are required to buy and wear only there clothes which are not given to you at 70% off or anywhere close. The clothes also don't come with a forever guarantee. It is not illegal to charge for your kit, as a representative you own it! And they used to let you borrow it but many people didn't give it back and the company lost a lot of money and the people who didn't return it were stealing and that is not legal. So whoever has bad things to say about this company is just upset at themselves because they had a great opportunity to make money and they didn't do it. Vector teaches you life skills, enhances your resume, gives people bonuses and much more. Everything in life is sales, Vector is just honest about it. If you work at Pepsi you are selling soda; if you work at Johnson & Johnson you're basically selling baby products; if you're working in the pharmacuetical industry then you are selling drugs. Now whats the problem with selling kitchen cutlery, sporting goods, kitchenware and gifts? People need that and they come with the best gaurantee, for life!

honestm · #42 04-16-2008, 09:19 PM

Vector Marketing & Cutco are part of the Direct Selling Association and this is directly from the DSA's website and is there Code of Ethics:
Code of Ethics

The cornerstone of the Direct Selling Association's (DSA) commitment to ethical business practices and consumer service is its Code of Ethics. Every member company pledges to abide by the code's standards and procedures as a condition of admission and continuing membership in DSA.
The DSA Code of Ethics speaks to both the consumer and the seller. It ensures that member companies will make no statements or promises that might mislead either consumers or prospective sales people. Pyramid schemes are illegal and companies operating pyramids are not permitted to be members of the DSA.
The DSA Code of Ethics is enforced by an independent code administrator who is not connected with any member company. The code administrator will do everything possible to resolve any complaints to the satisfaction of everyone involved, and has the ***** to decide on remedies. All member companies have agreed to honor the administrator's decisions.

If Cutco was doing anything wrong they would not be able to be part of this organization.

war eagle jt · #43 05-19-2008, 09:53 AM

Hi! I am new to this site. I just received a job working for Cutco and I am having problems deciding whether or not to keep the job or quit. Like everyone else, I was also a little wierded out when I contacted Cutco and didn't receive any information as to what is was that I would be doing. When I asked the secretary, she said "to be honest, I just started working here myself also so I do not know EXACTLY what you would be doing, but you are more than welcome to ask the manager when you get here for your interview." So I didn't think of it.

When I came in for my interview, I told the secretary who I was and she confirmed that I had talked to her on the phone. -(by the way, the office is in an old H&R Block building "temporarily"). Later on during the interview, the manager introduced the secretary to us. Apparently, she had been working for the company for two years and knew EXACTLY wtf I would be doing but she knew that if she told me, I would have so no way.

So from the start I was a little bit worried. Vector marketing gets its success from the way they word things and mislead you, that's why they are a MARKETING business that has been in business since 1949... They even train us how to mislead customers. I have to admit, the know EXACTLY what they are doing.

I am a business major at Auburn University. The biggest reason why I first took this job was because I needed a job for the summer, and I thought a job like this would be good experience. Truth is, it is. Truth is, you can also make serious money if you do try. And at this point, I have made one sale of $125 in four meetings, and that was to my grandparents. It's not easy by any means.

Also, during the last day of training I was asked to right down as many of my friends and their numbers as I could "just in case they needed to hire more people" and they said that they wouldn't call anyone without asking me first. So I wrote down 40 names so that I could DOUBLE my earnings for the week. (You also get 3% of what they sell, NOT THEIR BASE PAY). By the end of that night, I had 40 phone calls from the friends that I had recommended all asking what the job was about because they all had interviews the next day.

Now, this is only my second dayoutside of training, and I want to see how well I can do - but should I get out os there ASAP or at least give it a try?

- I just couldnt try selling the knives to my family because I knew what I was doing was misleading even thought my grandparents really just wanted the knives

Any help is great!! thnx

Abmarie · #44 05-20-2008, 10:06 AM

I'm writting here just to clear up a few thing. I have worked at Cutco for over a year and it is not a scam. Yes calling and getting scheduled the same day seems a bit sketchy but just give the company a chance. it's not just about selling knives you actually gain valuable resume experience. My boyfriend worked here for over 3 years and had two branch offices with vector and just because he had vector on his resume many companys offered him a job instanly. Yes going to peoples homes and driving around dosen't seem to fun, and yes you have to put down like $135 down for the sample kit, but do you people realize that this is a kit that goes for over $600 dollars? You earn back your money in like one sale. I'm not saying selling Cutco is for everyone because it's not. If you go to college and have a business major then I would deff go check it out. So instead of looking at all these people bashing a company, use your own decisions and stop letting people make up your mind from reading these comments.

cheesyhero · #45 05-28-2008, 02:11 PM

The truth is, those knives are overpriced, badly made, and they can only make money of YOUR friends and family. You're the one finding customers for them, it's not like anyone ever calls the company up and asks for knives. Don't you find that odd?

Ask any culinary artist (a real one, not the actor they plant there) about those knives. They'll give you the striaght dope right away- they're not proffessional quality.

It's not like they're useless, they can cut stuff sure (but not really like it should... it's abit of a complicated physics problem you'd have to ask someone else to explain) but there's a real reason they're not used in any commercial kitchens.

Make a little diagram of how you'd make you're money- IS it very likely your close friends and family would care about those knives so much they'd recommend them to others? More than likely, some of them would buy some crap just to support you, then your little contact list would dry up. Leaving you with maybe 60-80 bucks in commisions or sales appointments, and CUtco with a cool 400-500. If you do end up actually making money, it'd probably be off getting other saps to get thier friends and family to pony up.

Yes, you can advance through the pyramid, but at the cost of ripping off your loved ones, then convincing strangers to do the same.

They don't even let you talk while you're waiting. Whats up with that? Most other interviews they actually encouraged that, to see how well you do with others. There's a reason thier name pops alot of red flags up on the internet.

In the end, just ask yourself, "How is this diffrent from any other pyramid scheme?"

ProSalesman · #46 05-31-2008, 09:02 AM

Okay folks, first let's be honest, not even just about Vector or Cutco. Red flags should go up anytime a company that sells "high quality merchandise" is not actively seeking veteran sales associates. Ask yourself this question, if your merchandise was top notch, if it was truly worth of the accolades of best in class inventory, is there any way you would want anything less than a trained sales professional to market it? If it is of professional grade, if it's the best in the business, would you ask sales people with only the training of a few sales calls and 3 days of unpaid seminars to sell the product? Would the best marketing scheme that a quality company could attain for themselves be word of mouth generated by less than professional marketers? Why is it that such a quality company doesn't have relationships with mass marketing sectors such as QVC, HSN, Sears? If they are professional grade why aren't they endorsed by Culinary Colleges such as Le Cordon Bleu?

So, ask yourself these questions, and maybe one or two more.. Does the quality of replies in some of the posts on this site from "Happy Cutco Employees" sound like that of a professional salesperson that you would do business with?

Professional companies don't ask qualified sales people to pay a security deposit on demo merchandise. Why? Because they have hired professional sales people that they trust.

Vector Info · #47 06-01-2008, 10:31 AM

Anybody from the South Jersey/Philly area who worked for Vector want to give me a quote for a story on them?

Shawn Mowery · #48 06-03-2008, 03:11 PM

Ok idiots, let me clear some things up. I am not a Vector manager and the fact that you people seem to imagine them seeking out conspracy scam sites to justify themselves is ludicrous.

I am a college student who got a letter from Vector, and decided to check it out. I am a pre-grad from NYU, graduated from the AP program from highschool, and was skeptical.

I read every single post on this forum, and what I say is the honest truth, calculated from my experience and this heresay.

So yes, I got an interview at 6:45 PM on a Monday. When I got there, there were 40 people. I filled out an application, no resume', as did 40 other people. We got no alone time, it was a "group interview". However it was more of a marketeering lecture, which we took notes on. It was a fairly professional looking office. The trophies may or may not have been fake, and there was hustle and bustle around the office. After the 90 minute ordeal (which yes, was well rehersed), we wrote down some answers to some questions while we were called back in groups to recieve the yay or nay. I and 3 other girls were last. THe prior groups spent about 5-8, 10 minutes at the most in the office, then left with sad or apathetic faces out the door.

She told us we were hired in the room, and took questions, and then escorted us to her office and we were given papers that no aforementioned groups had. We spent about 20 minutes gloating and smiling, because it felt good to beat out 40 other people, even if there was no resume' experience necessary.

Let me address all the issues all of you sad, distressing, minimum wage silly-ninnyies have:

The only red flag that should matter is 1. Do they charge me with money upfront?

-Who cares that their office isn't a giant skyscraper downtown, and that they play music while you wait? Brainwashing tactics? Are you an idiot? Even at law firms I have gone to, there is adult contemporary music playing. So they try to connect with their applicants: it's not brainwashing, it's creating a low-key environment.

Different people picking up phones? Different shifts? And at the very least, you're going to base an entire multi-million dollar company on the premise that two different people answered the phone at two different times?

Now the important issues:
Yes, they hire students because they make money off of them. Since most of the applicants are students, they will steal things. It would be unwise to not make employees put a security deposit for the knives they are LOANED. They don't cash your deposit unless you quit and take their knives. So there is still no money lost..you can get a refund whenever you want.

They tell you in the first presentation you either make base pay or commission, NOT BOTH. Once you sell 4-6 k worth of things, you automatically make 20 % commission on any sales you make now: you do not go back down. There is no misleading.

They have articles about how efficient their methodology is and how good their products are in various outstanding magazines (Consumer's Digest, anyone?)

They do not schedule your appointments for you, it's true. And there is no cold-calling. However, once you branch off to your moms buddies, you're into a whole new field where you don't know anyone, and now you can branch off even more.

I have so much to say, but all you need to know is that yes, they do make money off of you. They know they are guaranteed at least a few hundred dollars off your immediate family. Even a chimpanzee can sell to family. There is a 15 day money back guarantee, a lifetime sharpening service, and if anything ever happens, it is replaced for half-price.

It is a scam to people who can't think outside the box! You assume your own responsibility to sell these products to your own clientelle..for every appointment YOU YOURSELF make you assume a base pay of 15 dollars (here in Florida). Even if you don't sell anything (which doesn't happen), you still make 15 dollar an appointment. Sometimes it lasts 30 minutes, sometimes an hour and a half.

Gas? Unless you're driving up and down your damn state, and you're an idiot, you won't have a problem. I make all my appointment within 10 miles of my house. Also, if you log your hours and your miles, you can write them off as tax deductables at the end of the year. It probably won't equal the exact amount of the gas money, but it will proverbially take you down from 3 50 a gallon to about a buck. Also, just log your appointments. If you get screwed on a paycheck, let them know. They are nice about it and replace the check.

If you are Plato's progeny or find yourself unable to tread the ethical boundaries of success, this job is not for you. You will have to upsell, to twist some truths sometimes, but at the end of the day, 90% of customers are repeat. There is a 14 million dollar repeat customership. Either they like buying expensive tools ofr no reason, or they like the product. At the end of the day who cares, you are making money, lots of it if you want.

Vector is not scamming you, the employee: if it's scamming anyone, it's scamming 14 million people..who, I suppose, like being scammed.

If you are responsible, want good resume experience, can handle waking yourself up in the morning, are outgoing and don't min being part of a corporate mechanism to make more money than any other job you can get in college, Vector is a good job for you.

If you need to be told what to do, don't expect much out of yourself, don't want to work hard, or are just looking for something to be alarmed about being you're a god damn conspiracy theorist and everyone is out to get you, then this job isn't for you.

Sketchy or not, the people are really nice. I have a lot of fun when I'm at meetings I DON'T PAY FOR and that help me boatloads, go out to bowl with my employees, skip the meeting that AREN'T mandatory to sleep. But when it comes down to it, I will meet with people all day to sell them a product I know is a really innovative tool..and why not spend 10 extra dollars on a knife that is guaranteed to work for 7-12 years and will be sharpened any time?

Oh, and the whole reason it is not advertised is being then the products would be much more expensive and the people (salepeople) who keep this company afloat would make less. Market 101: advertising cost money, yeah?

they accept anybody because you don't need a bachelors degree to sell this stuff: it sells itself. College students need money, that's why they target us. No one with a bachelors degree will sell this because they can do more with their education. That's why Vector targets students, not because they are easily manipulated. But because they know they will get a big response and they can choose the best. Or all of them, depending on your office. My office is ranked number 1 in my division, and everyone is really proud of that.

Bottom Line: don't listen to me, don't listen to the idiots who are just heresaying or had bad managers. Go to the training, and if you're feeling iffy about it, don't do it. Or if you borrow the set and you can't sell anything or you feel morally wrong about your product then get your deposit back and quit.. you don't lose money and you can put Vector experience on your resume'..

Just please stop flaming about a company you know nothing about, thanks.

carlsjr · #49 06-11-2008, 10:19 AM

I need some help, I was offered a position with this company. I'm still in the middle if I should take it or not. One of the reasons was that Vector looks like it was kinda shady. I saw this sign at my school stating that I can make $16/hr and have a flexible schedule. It didn't say what the job was, but it had a website to go to, I checked it out, it still didn't say what the job was, I decided to apply to see what it was. Once I applied, then it said it was Vector. I found it strange that it worked so hard to hide it's true ID.
Early morning the next day, I am surprised by a phone call for an interview. Immediately I asked what is Vector? the receptionist semi-hesitantly responded by carefully giving an answer that sounded kinda scripted (It could just be me, I don't want to sound paranoid). Once she mentions what they do, I remember that a few years ago I fought with one of them at school because they were trying to recruit me, but wouldn't answer any of my questions, even though they were genuine. All he did was give me a card and told me to call and find out for myself.
Anyway, when I get there, the office looks kinda weird. I wasn't expecting a big building with 100 windows, but I thought it would be a small building or at least an office in a professional building. Instead it was an office in a little dirty parking lot with a paper sign saying "Vector."
When I applied, I thought the application was a joke. It was one page and badly done. They ask you these big questions and only give you a small space to answer it.
Basically, it looks like they're hiding something. After the interview, they said they would call me within 2 hours. They called me 20 minutes later, telling me I have the job. I found that strange, because it seemed to sudden, especially since they didn't even look at my resume.
I did some research and it's not a scam, they are a real company and have great connections, but it just looks like you can't completely trust them.
The biggest problem I have it's that it is indy rep work. I had a job a few years back that it was the same thing. They also said it was "no cold calling" so they make you call your family and friends, whom some don't like to be called for that. Then they kinda look at you a different way. SO in a way, it is cold calling.
After you run out of family and friends, you're stuck on your own. Sometimes you get referrals, but it's kinda rare because they have no loyalty to you.
In the first few weeks or months, you'll do okay because you're selling to your loved ones, so you'll continue to work (and you will work). In fact, in the long run, you realize that you are not making that much money when you calculate everything. I'm not talking about cell phone or gas, I'm talking about preparation, driving, making appoinments (I would be on the phone 2 hours a day,unpaid, sometimes), paper work, etc, and then at the end of the year you have pay the taxes that were not taken out. If you're really good at it, you can make a nice penny, but if not you could be basically making minimum wage. I had a female co-worker that was making good money and worked a lot of hours, but when she did the math, she found out she was really making like $4.25 an hour.
So like everybody says, you'll have to work hard in order to make it. In a way, it's like working for salary. If you can make it work in 40 hours, GREAT, if not, it's coming out of your pocket. That's the problem with indy rep work.

I am only speaking as an individual who's worked in the same field as Vector, but not with Vector. Perhaps they are different.

If anybody has some comments please reply.

war eagle jt · #50 06-14-2008, 10:20 AM

Alright just making a quick update now. So I decided to stick with the job and see what would happen. Got my first paycheck for a few of my meetings after my first week for $75. The next week I went on vacation and when I came back, my manager decided to tell me that the entire office had been relocated about 45 minutes away (keep in mind they just opened one week before I applied). Right then I knew that I was going to quit right after I recieved my other half of the paycheck.

Let me put it to you like this. ITS BEEN THREE WEEKS and i still haven't seen the other half of my paycheck. I've tried calling my manager to see what's up with the holdout and, of course, no answer. I have been having meetings still almost everyday and try calling the PDI and still, no answer. I tried going on my account on the Cutco rep website - AND THEY DELETED MY F***ING ACOUNT!?! What the hell is this?

I thought I would give Cutco a try. I figured hey, what's the worst that could happen? Well, now I have wasted half of my summer on this job that you only supposedly fail in if you don't try hard enough, and I see how Cutco/Vector really is now... NOTHING BUT NO GOOD SCAMMING SONS OF B****ES!!!!!

If anyone is debating on whether or not to take this job, TRUST ME - DON"T DO IT!! I also looked on this site to see if I should take the job or not, and stupid me tried it. I left a post and nobody replied to me and told me not to take the job. So I'm telling everyone now, if you care about your time and don't like ripping off your loved ones - don't take the job.

If anyone has any questions, plz feel free to message me.